Mass-Efficient Pouring chassis

I engineered a mass-efficient pouring chassis to transfer 5 liters of water vertically by 20 cm as quickly as possible using a toy motor—without pipes or pumps—while maximizing efficiency. I began with Back of the Envelope calculations to identify key force points, iterating through multiple design simplifications to leverage two-force members and conducting Finite Element Analysis in Fusion360 to refine stress distribution. The final chassis design features a pulley system with dual drums for stability, a bearing-supported rotating dowel to minimize friction, and a hooked bucket mechanism that tilts upon contact with a plastic tube hard stop, ensuring efficient pouring. Optimizing motor performance, I used MATLAB to determine an ideal 6V input, 100:1 gear ratio, and 0.36 cm pulley radius to achieve maximum power efficiency. Finally, I placed hard stop brackets and FBD-driven reinforcement to handle stress concentrations, ensuring structural integrity with a safety factor of 1.5.